The is the end of 2009 and the end of my reflections on my early family life, half a century ago. This is especially for parents of young children. Every child should have an extended family member who was especially influential in the formation of their character, and for me it was my Uncle Harold.

 My parents divorced when I was only a few years old, but my mom's "little" brother used to come to visit us from time to time. He was always being told he looked like Wally Cox ("Mr. Peepers"). Harold went to war in Korea, came back, got a degree in electrical engineering and went to work for a large company. You and I may watch Mash and imagine through the satire how horrible that war was on many levels. Although he did write letters to the family all the time he was gone, Harold never mentioned Korea after his return.

 Uncle Harold knew how most things worked. He was a major geek before it was cool to be a geek. The thing is, he treated me the same as he treated anyone, so if I wanted to talk about how stuff worked, he talked about it in the same way he would have done at the office. In this way, he instilled in me a message about intellectual curiosity: that it isn't a stigma at all. You want to know how things work? Take them apart! (The Dalai Lama says that's how he operated as a young man. He took apart a car.) Harold was always happy to chat for hours about things that must have been pretty trivial. I remember once I asked him how there could be no end to space, what can there be beyond infinity? Of course he had no answer to this, but the point is, that's the kind of wonder that as a parent (or uncle) you want to encourage.

 As I've said in previous messages like this one, it's so important that young kids can frequent intelligent, mindful people when in their formative years. Make sure you give them as much intellectual stimulation as you can, and if you have siblings that can help, be sure to include them in the mix. I'm really grateful my mom had brothers that were so cool. (The older one was a one-man band and stand up comedian.)